Packets for articles such as tissues are well known in the art. These articles may be stored in either a wet (soaked in a cleaning agent, skin treatment etc.) or dry state. Typically these packets are in the form of a soft packet or rigid container depending on its portability requirements. Soft packets for wet tissues are usually made of a flexible, airtight film while rigid containers are generally made of molded plastic or cardboard.
The tissues are typically rectangular in shape and can be supplied as separately connected sheets or interleaved discrete sheets, stacked to ensure that as the leading tissue is removed from the package a portion of the trailing tissue passes through the outlet and releases the leading tissue once in a position to allow its (the trailing tissue's) easy removal when required (and in turn becoming the leading tissue). Tissues may also be stacked simply without interleaving so the removal of the top tissue has no bearing on the positioning of those below.
The outlet of packets may take a number of forms. A typical form is a narrow aperture through which the tissues are pulled one at a time as required. This shape facilitates the sequential dispensing of interleaved tissues; however it is also often a requirement that such outlets need to be repeatedly resealed. The capability to reseal the packet minimizes exposure of the articles therein to the ambient environment thus preventing foreign matter from entering the packet and maintaining moisture within the packet (where wet tissues are the article) when the packet is not in use. A well designed closure should, among other things, minimize contamination and moisture loss through the outlet.
Closures for packets already exist in a number of forms including a hard plastic frame around the outlet with a hard plastic flap hinged on the frame, able to be opened and clipped closed as required. Another current design is a soft plastic flap detachably attached to the packet which peels open to expose the outlet and may be reattached over the outlet with an adhesive layer on the flap. These designs require the complete detachment of a section of the packet to create an outlet.
Resealable packets for dried fruit etc. also exist on the market, generally utilizing resealable zipper storage bags.